New Baltimore was carved from the Town of Coxsackie on March 15, 1811 by an act of the New York State Legislature. Originally part of the homeland of the Mahican Indians, the Town’s boundaries were within the patents granted by the Dutch and English governments to early settlers such as Barent P. Coeymans and Mathias Houghtaling.

Original settlement dates from at least 1713. Even before formal creation of the Town, the area had thriving mills and farms from the hamlet on the Hudson to what became the settlements of Medway, Grapeville, Stanton Hill, Staco, and their surroundings. Farming continued to grow in subsequent years and continues on a smaller scale today. By 1875, there were 248 farms with 33, 882 acres under cultivation. By the period between World Wars I and II, the Town was second in the County behind in Cairo in acreage devoted to fruit growing and had the largest individual orchards.